Creative Planning Has $13.29 Million Stake in Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Creative Planning raised its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 5.3% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 49,322 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,482 shares during the quarter. Creative Planning’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $13,289,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC lifted its stake in Ecolab by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC now owns 2,995 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $807,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 1.3% in the second quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 3,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $805,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Eads & Heald Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Eads & Heald Wealth Management now owns 7,534 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,030,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the period. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC now owns 2,199 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $525,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Ecolab by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,170 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $297,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ecolab news, CEO Christophe Beck sold 21,714 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $261.41, for a total transaction of $5,676,256.74. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 72,644 shares in the company, valued at $18,989,868.04. This represents a 23.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ecolab Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of NYSE:ECL opened at $255.47 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $268.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $267.95. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $221.62 and a 1 year high of $286.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 1.12. The company has a market capitalization of $72.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.07.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The basic materials company reported $2.07 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.07. The firm had revenue of $4.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.12 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.55% and a net margin of 12.49%.The company’s revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.57 EPS. Ecolab has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 2.020-2.120 EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 7.480-7.580 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ECL has been the topic of several research reports. Robert W. Baird set a $307.00 price objective on shares of Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Ecolab from $299.00 to $291.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Baird R W raised shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Ecolab from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 27th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on Ecolab from $325.00 to $323.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $295.14.

Ecolab Profile

Ecolab Inc provides water, hygiene, and infection prevention solutions and services in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Global Industrial; Global Institutional & Specialty; and Global Healthcare & Life Sciences. The Global Industrial segment offers water treatment and process applications, and cleaning and sanitizing solutions to manufacturing, food and beverage processing, transportation, chemical, metals and mining, power generation, pulp and paper, commercial laundry, petroleum, refining, and petrochemical industries.